Two Opposing Quotes

[Greg_W]

Regarding L.T.'s quote, he was quite correct. Mountaineering has many varying aspects that must be weighed, understood, and decided upon before, during, and after (i.e., descent) a climb. Differing gear, conditions, approaches, objective dangers, etc. Whose ever heard of a "bouldering epic"? Here's one:

 

"During the approach from our vehicle, we took the wrong path and ended up in front of an outhouse, we backtracked and eventually found the rock. Biff realized he had lost his scrub brush during a brief bushwack around a picnic table and had to bail. Kenny hadn't brought the right shoes for the type of rock we were climbing or the current air temperature. The bouldering gods had two strikes against us, but we decided to have a go. Biff returned, having recovered his brush, and told us that the car stereo wouldn't go any higher. How could we succeed under such conditions? Oh the Humanity of it all!!!! It was getting late, soon darkness would overtake us. I jumped on our basecamp phone (nokia w/verizon service) and had Heather turn on the headlights of the car so we could find our way out. Whew!!! We'd be back to tackle this great mother once more."

 

 

Greg W

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

quote:

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Originally posted by Attitude:

Let's compare.

 

How many great mountaineering books or stories have you read?

 

How many great bouldering books or stories have you read?

---

Oy vey. The Doctor was employing the Todd Skinner "bouldery" quote ironically, as TS has always been regarded as a bit of a hyperspraying cheeseball, and the footage of him in Masters of Stone is positively comical (as is much of the other footy). Except for the bit where he's throwin' knives.

 

Anyway, there's 'Stone Crusade', and, ummm ... uhh, 'Bouldering: Freedom of the Small Rocks' . And, errr, the ever-popular, uh, 'The V7th Grade'. Yep, plenty o' good boulderin' lit out there!

[Peter_Puget]

quote:

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Originally posted by Attitude:

quote:

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Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing:

"...the only thing that gathers [hand gesture] my interest and

holds

[hand gesture] it is bouldery, powerful moves ..." - Todd Skinner

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Let's compare.

 

How many great mountaineering books or stories have you read?

 

How many great bouldering books or stories have you read?

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There are significantly more mountaineering books because frankly the mundane experiences of the mountains are more easily rendered to script while the much more rarified joys of bouldering are far harder to reduce to prose. If it could be done they'd be scripture.

[Thinker]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:

"To scramble around on a few little rocks is not, of course, the same as mountaineering." - Lionel Terray describing Fontainebleau c. 1948

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I think he was REALLY talking about the blight he saw coming that we now affectionately (or otherwise) call sprot climbing.......

 

[ 08-15-2002, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Probably so, Thinker. An article in the May, 1948 issue of "Large Balls Mountaineering Monthly" about the upcoming "cordless roto-hammer" from Hilti and its power to facilitate the placement of many of the new "stainless steel glue-in" bolts from Petzl was widely heralded as the true beginning of the sport climbing revolution. It was also the beginning of the soon-to-be-never-ending hostility between sportos and alpos.

[Thinker]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:

"To scramble around on a few little rocks is not, of course, the same as mountaineering." - Lionel Terray describing Fontainebleau c. 1948

 

"Bouldering is the synthesis of all skills needed for climbing" - Ron Kauk c. 1990

 

Who was right?

---

This also assumes that mountaineering is equivalent to climbing. That's simply not true. When's the last time you were able to practice self-arrest or crampon technique on a boulder? And to echo an earlier post, when's the last time you used your toothbrush on a rock while mountaineering?

 

IMHO, mountaineering can (and usually does) involve climbing, but is much more comprehensive than simply climbing.

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by Thinker:

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:

"To scramble around on a few little rocks is not, of course, the same as mountaineering." - Lionel Terray describing Fontainebleau c. 1948

 

"Bouldering is the synthesis of all skills needed for climbing" - Ron Kauk c. 1990

 

Who was right?

---

This also assumes that mountaineering is equivalent to climbing. That's simply not true. When's the last time you were able to practice self-arrest or crampon technique on a boulder? And to echo an earlier post, when's the last time you used your toothbrush on a rock while mountaineering?

 

IMHO, mountaineering can (and usually does) involve climbing, but is much more comprehensive than simply climbing.

---

I practiced dry tooling on boulders this last winter I can do this one problem with ice tools that i can't do barehanded cuz of the extra 8 inches of reach

[Thinker]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:

I can do this one problem with ice tools that i can't do barehanded cuz of the extra 8 inches of reach

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It's amazing what one can do when he imagines he has an extra 8 inches..............

[Dru]

yeah, dry tool index = ape index +16 inches... actually, ok a 45cm tool extends your reach by more than 8 inches... more like a foot!

 

im not imagining ANYTHINGabout the other 8 inches though

[Attitude]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing:

a bit of a hyperspraying cheeseball....

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This is too easy...

[Greg_W]

How hard can bouldering be? They don't have to battle

[forrest_m]

Thinker wrote:

quote:

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when's the last time you used your toothbrush on a rock while mountaineering?

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heck, when's the last time you used a toothbrush on your teeth while mountaineering?

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by forrest_m:

Thinker wrote:

quote:

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when's the last time you used your toothbrush on a rock while mountaineering?

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heck, when's the last time you used a toothbrush on your

teeth

while mountaineering?

---

you mean you don't take along your drilled-shaft alpine toothbrush like ED VEISTURS does?

[forrest_m]

no, although i recently did a climb with a friend of mine who is a dentist - not only did he brush, he flossed. the only thing i've ever used dental floss for in the mountains is for emergency sewing... before i discovered duct tape.

[mattp]

The bristles on your toothbrush can come in handy for cleaning the jet on your stove.

[Thinker]

I personally like those little toothbrushes REI sells that slip over the end of your finger...talk about no weight.

 

I'll bet if Lambone had had one of those he could have kept the ladies' minds off calling 911 again.

[icegirl]

Hey, I thought I was the only geek using my ice gear on the boulders. Makes it easy to find holds when you are scraping the moss off... Of course when the gang gets their hands on that "hold" they think you are nuts... Ape index, and strong pointy hold-gripping monopoint at the end of your arm... Gotta love it.

 

they sell those little toothbrushie things at the pet store too... probably cheaper

 

[ 08-15-2002, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: icegirl ]

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

quote:

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Originally posted by Attitude:

quote:

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Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing:

a bit of a hyperspraying cheeseball....

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This is too easy...

---

Dr. Flash Amazing cordially invites you to get fucked, friend.

 

Cheery-o, then!

[G-spotter]

For stone of river, to go up is, not to use the hatchet of ice so well on problems already established, because small influences and flakes can be eliminated. However, if you are with sector which no visit is then free you to decide, to make, who it is also always your preference, to choose and "nut with you!" with each one besides.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

quote:

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Originally posted by G-spotter:

For stone of river, to go up is, not to use the hatchet of ice so well on problems already established, because small influences and flakes can be eliminated. However, if you are with sector which no visit is then free you to decide, to make, who it is also always your preference, to choose and "nut with you!" with each one besides.

---

Words to live by, there.

[Chongo]

You, sir, are no Hayduke.

[forrest_m]

i think g-spotter is playing the "run it through babelfish a couple of times" game. you know, you type something in, translate english-russian-portugese-english and see what comes up...

 

i.e. via english-german-french-english:

 

if you whom see I think of Gg-spotter am "" to play" race him babelfish a couple of times "the play which you know, you type something, you translate and what englisch-russisch-portugese-englisches comes...

[Dru]

This play, is him the recreation to play so much, why purposely in their manner would form each possible heart thinking an advertisement of expiring to which they would like to communicate thus difficult devilishly honestly to include/understand? Why it would be almost like playing 33 rotations per note of minute on the hinged plate with seventy. I do not believe indeed such in any healthy person would consider a stupid and ridiculous activity.

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by forrest_m:

i think g-spotter is playing the "run it through babelfish a couple of times" game. you know, you type something in, translate english-russian-portugese-english and see what comes up...

 

i.e. via english-german-french-english:

 

if you whom see I think of Gg-spotter am "" to play" race him babelfish a couple of times "the play which you know, you type something, you translate and what englisch-russisch-portugese-englisches comes...

---

here is something funny to do. get babelfish to translate an english sentence to spanish

 

then translate the Spanish sentence using the "Portuguese to English" translator (without translating Portuguese to Spanish.

 

 

aquí is something amused hace consigue el babelfish to traducir joins oración English al español entonces traduzca la oración española using "the Portuguese" los al traductor inglés (sin to traducir portugués al español.

[Roger]

"To jumble towards on someone small boulders are not, of course, similar as mountaineering." -T. Larray describing Fountainbleu, c 1948.

 

Probably a huge mistake posting this but... whatever. I had an experience at Fountainbleau that was not unlike what Greg W so humorously described. It's actually a huge freaking labryinth of rocks and forest there, with these impossible-to-find little spots of paint in random places that are supposed to tell you how hard the moves are. We spent a day there, moving around a lot, bouldering in a bunch of different places. Then it started getting dark and we decided to head back to the car... but soon realized we were not exactly sure which direction the car was. So we wandered around in the fading light for what seemed like a long time, joking about our bouldering epic and how we were probably going to have to bivi, can't believe we're not carrying the 10 essentials, etc. Finally we encountered a hiker and through some miracle of broken french and random gestures managed to describe the place we thought we left the car. He was able to point us in the right direction, and probably still tells his friends about the two dumbass american climbers he had to rescue from certain death at fountainbleau.

 

So was it Terray or Louis Lachenal on the summit of Annapurna with Herzog? Can never keep those frenchies straight. "Maurice...! Your gloves...!!"